Contact Local Authorities in Your Country

If you are located in a Hague Convention country, your next step should be to contact your country’s Central Authority. Your Central Authority may provide assistance in filling out a Hague application and let you know what supporting documents you need to provide with your application. These documents will need to be translated into English. The Central Authority will then forward your application at its discretion to our office to begin the process in the U.S. For information on how to contact Central Authorities, please visit the Hague Conference on Private International Law's website.

You can also contact your local embassy in the U.S. and INTERPOL in your country to see how they may be able to assist you.

Embassy in the United States: Often the embassy of the country from which the child has been taken can provide a list of attorneys or attempt to visit a child in the United States.

Law Enforcement: INTERPOL is the world’s largest international police organization, with 187 member countries. If your child was taken from an INTERPOL member country, consult with law enforcement authorities in the country from which the child was taken to ask for their assistance to seek an INTERPOL Missing Child (Yellow) Notice. On the basis of this notice and entry of the child into National Crime Information Center (NCIC), law enforcement in the United States can assist in locating the child and detain the parent and child for a short time. Law enforcement authorities in the country from which the child was taken can also help you determine if the parent that took your child to the United States has violated your country’s laws.

The State Department's Role

Steps You Can Take on Your Own

Contact Us

Office of Children's Issues at the U.S. Department of State

Country officers are available to speak with you Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. For assistance with an abduction in progress or any emergency situation that occurs after normal business hours, on weekends, or federal holidays, please call toll free at 1-888-407-4747. See all contact information.

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